SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Results from wastewater testing in Altamonte Springs indicate roughly 10% of those infected with COVID-19 in that area have the omicron variant, city officials confirmed Monday.

And now, preliminary testing of wastewater sampling in Orange County using a beta method is showing the variant there as well, county officials announced in a tweet. More information about those tests will be announced Wednesday.

"The value of the Altamonte Springs COVID-19 Predictive Model is that we can detect virus spikes and variants sometimes as much as a week before the people who are infected with the variants develop symptoms and get tested at a hospital," City Manager Franklin W. Martz III stated in an emailed statement. "No cases have been reported at local hospitals so far as I know."

Jerry Dacus has lived in Seminole County since 2004. He takes daily walks around Cranes Roost Park with his dog Grover. 

But they came to the Altamonte Springs destination earlier in the day Monday to avoid crowds they saw there recently in the evening, in part because of recent news about the omicron variant detected in city of Altamonte Springs wastewater. 

“I went to the bathroom, and it was really crowded, and it just — I don’t know, I felt it in the air,” Dacus said. “I don’t know why. I went home and saw it on TV, and it was crazy,” Dacus said.

Martz said, “What our sampling shows is that several thousand people are infected with COVID right now, in our sewer service area." 

The plant's coverage area includes Longwood, Maitland, Eatonville and part of Winter Park. 

Area served by Altamonte Springs' water treatment facility

"And it’s about 10% of the people who are infected who appear to have that mutation,” Martz said. 

So that means there’s roughly 300 to 400 people in that area infected with the omicron variant. 

“If it’s one or two places in Seminole County and in Orange County, it’s probably in more,” Martz said. 

As if to confirm that, Orange County utility officials confirmed Monday that preliminary results show Omicron in their wastewater as well.

While the omicron variant was detected by Altamonte Springs in a wastewater sample collected Dec. 9, Martz said that the delta variant "is still the dominant variant" in the wastewater being tested there.

Altamonte Springs has been testing the city's wastewater since April 2020 and "has one of the largest collection of samples in the United States," Martz said. 

Martz said no omicron cases have been reported at local hospitals as of now and the delta variant is still the dominant strain detected in city wastewater.

But Martz said this information is important because it is sent to local hospitals, just like Altamonte Springs did before the delta surge, so that hospital officials can prepare and get their staffing and equipment where it needs to be. 

Dacus is not taking any chances. 

“I’ve had my booster and both my other shots so, I feel safe, I just don’t want to get anything,” he said. 

National data shows the omicron variant has now been identified in at least 29 states and D.C.

Leading U.S. health officials say the variant spreads easily, but it is still unclear if it leads to milder disease, and getting vaccinated is important.

"Preliminary data show that when you get a booster, for example a 3rd shot of an MRNA, it raises the level of protection high enough that it then does do well against the omicron," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden. 

Nationally, the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases has increased about 63% over the past two weeks.